Price paid when winning auction
Summary: stad-7298 raised a concern about auction bidding changes, noting that previously, they paid just above the next highest bid but now are charged their maximum bid no matter what. 12345jamesstamps explained that bidding in the last second can be influenced by internet speed and timing, which affects the outcome. nyr134 suggested it could be due to a reserve price being met with the user's bid.
I buy stamps at auctions. When I have do this in the past, if I bid posting a maximum bid, I take the chance of losing it if I am outbid before the ends. So I usually watch it live and bid it just before the end of the bid. In the past, doing this either way,I have been charged an amount just above the next highest bidder. Example: high bid is $100, I bid $1,000 , at time of bid someone bids $500, then I win with an amount of approximately $501. But just recently, using the same scenario, if I bid $1,000 I pay $1,000 no matter what the next highest bid was. Has something changed?
kathiec
·2 weeks agoCan you give us the item number of an auction where you've seen this happen? It's impossible to say what happened without looking at the bid history.
nyr134
·2 weeks agoIs it possible that in your recent example there was a $1000 reserve - and your bid was the only one that met that reserve amount?
12345jamesstamps
·2 weeks agoIf more than one bid comes in at exactly the second the auction ends...I mean, within that second...First of say 3 bids for $100. come in that second...the first one who bids $100. wins the auction...not the second or third dude.
It's really hard to tell when you make a bid if someone made a bid also within that second...which is why eBay does that 'determining who won' which can take a minute.
Some bidders have faster internet than other bidders.
I bid on a lot of auctions on stamps as well as sell them...these bidders bid on that 'one second left' of an auction.
I have bid high usually on last 3 seconds...and then it says outbid..but there are '3 buttons' which a bidder can clink on in the second the auction ends...it's usually the faster internet of a bidder who wins.